Home
by paatuhod
Summary: Right now, there was a gaping conflict of interest between her duty and her happiness. She wouldn't have minded, truly, but this involved Sasuke's happiness, too. (Blank Period fic)
1. I'm Home, Sakura

Sakura could still remember the way Sasuke's voice uttered the phrase, quiet but sure, as he greeted her this morning.

Sasuke coming back to Konoha so suddenly had taken her completely by surprise, of course—it had been about a year after that fateful encounter with Kido, the ANBU official who had taken the drug that had given him the chakra of the nine-tails. A year... since she defeated him. But from that point on, she had been sure that the "soon" in Sasuke's "I'll see you soon" would be fast approaching.

Sasuke had sought her out first, to her delight. She had been watering her plants—Naruto's gifts—before preparing breakfast when she heard a knock. She had thought there was an emergency at the hospital with one of her patients and rushed towards the front door, speaking even before opening it.

 _"Chiaki is that you? Did something happen to Gin's ar—"_

She let out an audible gasp when she opened the door.

 _"Sasuke-kun!"_ She had breathed, as, like in one of those movies, the wind blew through the Shinobi's raven hair and revealed mismatched eyes. Sakura took in his worn cloak and his handsome face, which thinned out a little and darkened because of his travels. She thought it was unfair that he still managed to take her breath away.

 _"I'm home, Sakura."_

She had blushed, not expecting him to say such a thing to her, of all people. After all, it was something normally said to family. She was reminded of the overwhelming feeling he had caused when he poked her forehead all those years ago, and wondered if she would ever get used to him being gentle with her.

Then she had blinked, embarrassed, and remembered that Sasuke was here, here, in front of her after 3 whole years of not seeing him. She jumped at the realization, and immediately flung her arms around her teammate.

Suddenly, she had felt like she was twelve again, hugging her Sasuke-kun in that manner. She hid her face on the crook of his neck. He smelled the same as she remembered, like leaves and dirt and combat.

The only difference was this time, Sasuke's right arm had hooked behind her, settling on the small of her back.

Acutely aware of this, she had uttered shyly: _"Welcome home, Sasuke-kun. How have you been?"_ her words muffled as she said the words into the shinobi's cloak.

 _"Hn, travelling,"_ Sasuke had replied, and Sakura could hear the smirk in his voice.

Sakura had leaned away and slapped his left arm, the one that wasn't—couldn't—be around her.

 _"I knew that, you baka, I meant..."_ she had broken off, unsure. _"Well, I meant..."_

Sasuke's smirk had softened into a smile, one she hadn't seen since before he left.

 _"This is hardly the place to talk about it, don't you think?"_

Sakura blushed again, realizing her rudeness.

 _"Oh! I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun. Do you want to come in for some tea?"_ She broke off their embrace and stood aside.

Sasuke shook his head, however.

 _"I have to report to Kakashi at the tower."_

 _"Oh,"_ she said again. _"Right, of course."_ She bit her lip, looking down at her feet. She was trying to work up the courage to ask him out to lunch.

 _"I'll probably be done by lunch time. Will you be free then?"_

Her eyes had shot up, surprised that Sasuke had said the words first.

 _"Yes!"_ she had said a little too quickly for her taste, but she liked when it brought the smile back to Sasuke's face.

 _"Then, I'll go ahead."_ He had turned around and headed to the direction of the Hokage tower to see their old sensei.

* * *

It was how she ended up distracted at work, realizing she and Sasuke didn't agree on a time or place to meet. It was a good thing she mostly had desk duty today. Her assistant Chiaki told her that it was uneventful at the emergency room where she was needed most days, and her patients were stable.

Now she was checking progress reports on the Children's Mental Clinic in Suna, a partnership she had established a year ago with the help of her childhood friend—

 _BANG!_ The door to her office opened suddenly, Ino Yamanaka entering with an urgent look on her face.

"Ino!" Sakura said, shocked. "What's wrong? Why are—"

"Sasuke-kun is here, Forehead!" the blonde kunoichi said quickly, out of breath. "I ran... all..."

Sai followed soon behind her.

"She ran all the way here to tell you," Sakura's old teammate finished, with that inscrutable smile on his face.

"Oh!" Sakura sighed in relief.

"Yes, Sai saw him at the Ho—wait," Ino paused, frowning. "'Oh'? You don't seem happy."

"Oh no, no, I am!" she waved her hands defensively. "I just thought you were going to say there was an emergency at the clinic, I was worried and all."

Ino sighed. "You have got to stop being so wound-up about work, Forehead... wait a minute," she smirked suspiciously. "You didn't seem surprised, either."

Sakura blushed. Ino's smirked widened. Sai smiled cluelessly.

"I... well, he, um... already went... to see me... this morning," Sakura finished in a volume Ino almost couldn't hear.

Ino stared hard at Sakura until her mouth formed an O, then smiled so widely that Sakura's cheeks reddened some more.

"Ah, I see..." Ino said thickly, still staring into Sakura's eyes. "Well then, my job here is done. Sai?"

"Are we going now, Beautiful?" Sai asked.

"Ino—" Sakura started.

"Oh, never mind, Forehead, just tell me about your date later, ok?" the blonde replied dismissively, still smirking.

"D-date? Wait, what— Ino-Pig? Did you read my—"

But her childhood friend was already out of sight.

Sakura sighed, shaking her head. She hadn't even been aware of her friend's invasiveness until it had already occurred. She was too distracted to even notice. What else had Ino found out?

A quiet knock startled her and made her look up.

"Bad time?" Sasuke was at the door, taking in her position and overall aura.

"Sasuke-kun!" she squeaked.

"It's noon," the raven-haired Uchiha said quietly, looking at her. "Is anything wrong?"

"Oh, no no, nothing! I was just getting ready, sorry!" Sakura stood up and began to fix her desk. "So um, where are we going for lunch?" she asked in Sasuke's general direction, avoiding his eyes. She was afraid he would see how nervous she was.

"Ah. I saw the dobe when I went to Kakashi's office."

"Oh!" Sakura started, finally looking up at him. She felt somewhat relieved. She did not feel as if she was ready to be alone with the Uchiha. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Was he annoyed?

"So," Sakura declared cheerfully, deciding to ignore his expression. "Ramen, then?"

* * *

"Sakura-chaaaaan!" The blond, orange-clad shinobi greeted Sakura, waving his arms wildly. Naruto had mellowed out as he grew older, but he stayed this way towards Sakura. Sometimes he got too loud, but she humored him, since it actually reminded her of better times.

"Konnichiwa, Naruto," she greeted brightly. Sasuke was quiet beside her. They had actually talked some on the way to Ichiraku, with Sasuke promising to spill about his travels during lunch, but now he was stoic and passive again.

" _Ne_ , _Teme_! What took you so long? Wanted Sakura-chan all to yourself, didn't you? I'll have you know—"

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura cut him off, cheeks reddening. She knew it was a joke, Naruto was happy with Hinata, but his taunt directed at Sasuke made her slightly uncomfortable.

Naruto scratched his chin, and shrugged. "I dunno, he'll probably be an hour late as usual."

"I'm surprised he can even get out of that office for lunch with us!" Sakura thought out loud.

"Well, it is _us_ ," Naruto beamed.

" _Baka_ , don't be so full of yourself," Sakura reprimanded.

"Well, it's true! He'd do anything for us, just like Teme here, right, Teme?" Naruto teased, putting an arm around his best friend and rival.

Sasuke only grunted.

* * *

Naruto was already attacking his second bowl of miso ramen while the other three were still settling into their high chairs.

"It's great to have you back, Sasuke," the Rokudaime noted, his eyes crinkling. It was obvious he was happy that the team was back together again.

"Hey, hey," Naruto said thickly through a mouthful of noodles. "What made you come back, anyway, Teme?"

Sakura, who was in between Sasuke and Naruto, nudged the blond pointedly as a warning. Sasuke however, answered directly.

"It was what _nii-san_ would have wanted," he said softly.

"Right, for Itachi," Sakura murmured, careful about the subject. Naruto had of course filled her in with what really happened with the Uchiha clan, and she had since harbored a quiet understanding of what Sasuke had really went through, although she never brought it up to her dark-haired teammate even in her letters to him.

Nevertheless she caught Sasuke steal a glance at her, and she looked down again, sorry that she mentioned Itachi's name. She figured it was still taboo to talk about Sasuke's ill-fated big brother, and that she didn't really have the right to mention his name in front of Sasuke. Besides, she was worried that all his hurt might resurface unnecessarily. She looked at Sasuke timidly for confirmation.

"Not just for him," he said firmly, looking straight at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her old sensei's eyes crinkle, and Naruto stared cluelessly back and forth from his two teammates.

Sakura blushed, but Sasuke only smiled. Meanwhile she looked decidedly away, telling herself insistently _he means the team, not you_ , over and over again—but her thoughts were interrupted by Sasuke's voice.

"You don't have to tiptoe around me. I am not that fragile. I have... come to terms with it," he went on to address everyone.

"Ah well we can't help it- _ttebayo_ ," Naruto declared loudly.

Sakura felt the need to reprimand her blond teammate for being his usual tactless self, but Sasuke actually smirked, which surprised them all.

"I suppose not," he sighed. "Given all the trouble I caused before."

"That's not what Naruto—" Sakura started, but she was cut off by an insistent beep from her pager.

"Sakura-chaaaaan," Naruto pouted, all too familiar with the device that took away Sakura's time from them. It had been a source of constant annoyance for the blond ninja.

"Ah, duty calls," the pinkette sighed, smiling apologetically, legitimately disappointed. She had expected a call somehow or another; her breaks were seldom uninterrupted. However, she had hoped she would get at least another 15 minutes.

"You should stop overworking yourself, Sakura," Kakashi warned. "Take a break once in a while."

"But I just did," Sakura stuck her tongue out, gathering her things. She didn't know why she couldn't look at Sasuke, whom she felt was staring at her.

"You barely ate," he remarked quietly.

"Don't worry about me, I can sneak in a bite later," she assured the Uchiha, looking at a spot beside the latter's shoulder. Absently, she nudged her bowl towards Naruto so he could finish it, another usual occurence. She did not know how to deal with this new, gentle Sasuke that seemed to be paying too much attention, much more than she was used to. "Well, then, I'll see you all later," she said cheerily.

"Is it always like this?" Sasuke asked quietly, looking at Sakura's back and bobbing pink hair getting smaller as she headed to the hospital.

" _Yeah, teme_ ," Naruto said. "Sometimes I want to steal that pager away and throw it where she can never find it, just for another extra 5 minutes with her."

* * *

 _Growl._

 _Ugh_. Despite her assurance earlier, Sakura had not been able to find a moment to eat. She wished she had finished at least half of her ramen, as she glanced up at the wall clock in her office.

Two hours more, and she can get out of here. She'll definitely get a yakisoba bun at a _konbini_ for a quick bite and maybe, if she was lucky, find an open restaurant and get some take-out too.

 _Growl_.

Two hours.

 _Growl_.

"Agh!" She groaned, banging her head on her desk and hiding beneath all the paperwork she had to finish. "I'm so hungry..." She admitted to herself. She was so hungry, in fact, that she could smell the ramen she had earlier. She sniffed, holding back tears.

"Then you should have finished eating earlier," a familiar voice reprimanded her softly. She looked up, surprised to see Sasuke Uchiha leaning at her doorframe, holding up a take-out bag from Ichiraku.

"Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed, her stomach growling some more. She blushed at the sound, but Sasuke frowned, as if upset at her stomach.

"Is that my ramen from earlier?" The pink-haired kunoichi asked curiously. That would explain the smell. Of course it would be soggy now but it was better than nothing.

"Of course not," the Uchiha huffed, seeming offended at the implication. "I got you a new one."

Sakura clapped her hands and almost ran towards her teammate, hugging him.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" She gushed absently, excited to eat. "I could kiss you right now—" she broke off, realizing what she said.

Sakura broke away from the shinobi, embarrassed. "I mean, not literally, I just meant—"

"Ah," Sasuke said quietly, walking towards Sakura's table and setting the take-out bag down. She couldn't see his expression as he started clearing up her desk of all the paperwork she was working on.

After what seemed like forever, he turned back to her and raised his brow.

"Oh!" She realized, then immediately went forward and sat down. "Jaa, itadakimasu!" She said cheerily, watching as the Uchiha made himself comfortable in the chair in front of her desk.

"Sorry I had to miss most of lunch, Sasuke-kun," she apologized in between mouthfuls of noodles. "Chiaki needed help earlier with a difficult case..."

"You should eat on time," the shinobi replied.

"I do!" She blushed again as the shinobi narrowed his eyes. "Well, I try my best..." She admitted.

"You clearly aren't trying enough," the shinobi snapped.

She smiled then, because that sounded more like the Sasuke she knew from back when they were kids.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," she babbled peacefully. "Even then, you were always snapping at me... if I wasn't training enough, stuff like that. It brings back memories."

When Sasuke didn't reply, she said "Of course you probably wouldn't remember—"

"Annoying," he muttered, closing his eyes, probably in exasperation.

"W-What?" Her heart sank. Over the years, that word had taken on a lot of meanings as Sasuke said it in different contexts, but right now he really did look annoyed at her.

"Train, eat, either way I always meant the same thing," he said.

She waited for what seemed like forever for the shinobi to continue.

"I want—I've always wanted you to be able to take care of yourself."

It was then that he finally looked at her, and her heart skipped a beat.

"But clearly, you still can't get your priorities straight after all these years," he frowned.

"Sasuke-kun..." She said after a while. "I'm sorry—"

"Don't apologize," he told her firmly. "That's why I'm here, aren't I?"

She looked away, blushing.

He narrowed his eyes then, and silently waited for her to finish her ramen and her work, only interrupting to say he'd walk her home.

* * *

"Hmm," Sakura said worriedly. Sasuke had filled her in with what he reported to Kakashi and what he relayed to Naruto earlier.

He had experienced things in his travels that led him to believe there was a big threat out there. It was just a hunch for now, but he thought whatever it was, it was a bigger threat than Kaguya herself.

He had not let on that he was worried in whatever way, but she sensed that he was. It was Sasuke after all, and if he thought it was dangerous—

"Don't go, Sasuke-kun," Sakura stopped walking, touching the shinobi's arm tentatively.

He looked at her, then said "There is no choice for me here, Sakura. I have to go. I am the only one—"

She shook her head fiercely.

"I meant— well I meant... don't go... alone," she looked up at him hesitantly.

Beat. He understood what she was offering.

"It's too dangerous," he said firmly.

She shook her head again.

"You'll need all your chakra for possible combat, right? Sasuke-kun, I can give you extra chakra reserves so you won't use all of yours up if you need to travel to other dimensions. Remember, when Obito and I brought you back from the desert dimension? I can be useful to you this time, I promise I won't make you regret taking me along—"

"That's not what I meant—"

"Then why?" She was close to tears now, unable to help it. Her vision was getting blurry. She had thought that Sasuke would at least consider her worthy of bringing along. "I'm not that weak girl that you need to keep saving, Sasuke-kun! I thought I proved that to you last year when I—"

She was cut off by Sasuke crushing his mouth against hers with what seemed like a sense of urgency. Sakura however remained frozen even after he pulled away, too quickly, unable to react at such a thing that she did not expect.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

"You're not. Weak." He said through gritted teeth. "I just... I don't want to put you in unnecessary danger, Sakura."

He was looking at her with an intense fire in his eyes, almost angry.

Too much information was running through the kunoichi, however. The fact that Sasuke said she was not weak, that he didn't want to put her in danger, and that he kissed her... she could barely handle any of it. Besides, even without the tears in her eyes her vision remained blurry, which was weird. She blinked a few times. In fact the world looked like it was spinning really badly—

* * *

"You're awake," was the first thing Sakura registered, even before she opened her eyes. When she did, she saw that she was lying on her bed with her favorite blanket around her, and Sasuke was sitting on a chair a foot away cutting up what looked like...

"Are those apples?" She smiled sleepily. She was reminded of a similar event, but with the shinobi at the receiving end.

"Aah." Pause. "Kakashi agreed to give you an off day today."

"Today?" She frowned. Then her eyes widened. "Did I pass out and—"

"Sleep through the night, yes," Sasuke said softly. He handed her the plate.

She ignored it and stared at him, information finally catching up to her muddled mind.

"You kissed me," she squeaked, still staring at the shinobi's face. He was looking at her earlier when he tried to hand her the plate of apples, but now he was looking at anywhere but her, plate still extended.

"What about it?" He asked snippily. He made to hide his red face in his high collar, which he forgot wasn't there anymore. That caused his face to turn even redder, so he just turned away.

She grinned. _He's cute when he's embarrassed._

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she said, her voice lilting. "It's just..." She couldn't help it. She couldn't help it.

"What?" Sasuke looked at her finally, and she thought his eyes glinted with something like worry for a second.

"Can you do it again?" She smiled innocently.

"Sakura!" He choked on air, turning as red as his favorite fruit.


	2. Get Used to Me

_**Ok this is a lil smutty and it's my first time so bear with meeee wahaha and I am aware that it is a little shorter than the last chapter. However I feel like this chapter is already complete in itself. Anyway, please leave comments, I want to improve more and they really help!**_

 _ **This chapter is more on Sasuke's POV, I'm playing with the idea of giving Sas and Sak alternating chapters hmmmm**_

* * *

They were busy arguing about asking Kakashi for a Gokage summit when the doorbell rang.

"Oh hang on a minute, Sasuke-kun," Sakura muttered, hurriedly swallowing a mouthful of rice and shuffling towards the front door.

"Hm," the Shinobi nodded.

Sasuke thought maybe Kakashi was already planning or at least thinking about a Gokage summit. The Uchiha did not want to alarm anyone with his hunch, but Sakura wanted to mention it to the Hokage at least. They had been weighing the possibility for around 15 minutes already, and Sakura was about to convince him to at least suggest it the next time Sasuke was scheduled to meet the Rokudaime about three days from now.

Absently, Sasuke looked at her wall clock.

10:17pm. Who would be rude enough to interrupt her at this hour? Maybe it's the dobe—

"Oh, Chiaki!"

Ah. Sakura's assistant. She shouldn't be bothering Sakura at this hour. It was supposed to be her day off. Besides, hadn't she heard of office hours—

"Sakura-san!" someone said in a worried tone. A worried masculine tone, which made Sasuke's back stiffen.

"I'm sorry to bother you at this hour, but..."

Sasuke filtered out their conversation, barely catching the words "paperwork" and "signature" and "urgent" from the boy, and Sakura with some "hmm"s of acquiescence.

"Sorry about that," Sakura murmured as she settled back down in front of Sasuke, jolting him out of his reverie. "Chiaki needed—"

"Does that boy come here often?" the Shinobi cut her off, practically spitting out on the word "boy".

"Well," Sakura paused, oblivious to her teammate's snippy tone. "Yeah, I guess he does. My work doesn't really stop when I go home from a shift. That's why yesterday morning when you came, I thought—"

"Can I stay here?"

"What?" Sakura's mouth dropped into an O.

Sasuke stayed silent, waiting for her response.

"O—of course you can stay, but... Didn't Kakashi-sensei keep your apartment ready for you whenever you came back? I mean... wouldn't it be inappropriate..."

The raven-haired Shinobi observed the subtle blush that crept through the pinkette's skin, from her face down to her neck. He decided he wanted to see more.

"Why?"

"Why?" Sakura squeaked. "Because... because..."

They haven't really talked about their kiss since this morning, and it seemed that Sakura was embarrassed again.

He liked the way her cheeks went all rosy, and the fact that she couldn't look him in the eye. The contrast was shocking—earlier, she had just been logically enumerating the pros and cons of a possible Gokage Summit, but when it came to things directly related to him, she always became somewhat flustered.

It was a selfish thing to want to see her like this, he thought, but it seemed to remind Sasuke of better days. Besides, he had always been a little selfish when it came to her attention.

"I'll sleep on the couch if you want," he was having too much fun.

Beat.

"You're—you're teasing me," Sakura finally noticed. Her shy shade of pink darkened to an angry red.

"Sakura—" he began, immediately repentant.

"I have a perfectly fine bed, I'll have you know!" She snapped, glaring at him now. "If you're going to stay here, then sleep with _me_ on my _bed_!"

He raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth lifting ever so slightly.

"I mean—" the kunoichi faltered. "Oh, you know what I mean!" She exploded angrily, grabbing his plate and hers and storming away.

Sasuke sighed, gathered what utensils he could and followed her to the sink. Her temper was worse than he remembered.

Sakura was furiously scrubbing her plate when Sasuke kissed her softly on the neck. She stiffened, eyes widening.

"Sorry," he muttered. It had been something he did out of an impulse, as a supposed apology, and now he regretted it.

"No, I—you don't understand," she paused, turning her head to look at him. "I'm just not used to you being so..." she trailed off, playing with a lock of her hair, another nervous habit he recognized from when they were genin. She seemed to realize she still had soap in her hands and immediately began to wash it off.

Ah. _Him being so_... he realized it was his fault of course, he had never been this affectionate with her. The last time they saw each other he had poked her on the forehead and that was enough to make her blush, which in turn made Sasuke thank Kami that the kunoichi seemed to realize the importance of the gesture without actually knowing what it meant to him.

But... the last time he had even held her hand was at the forest of death, after Sakura cut her hair. So he understood what he had to do this time. He had to make her get used to him.

He put the utensils by the sink and slowly snaked his arm around the kunoichi's waist, pulling her flush against him. He heard Sakura gasp but she didn't stiffen this time, so he decided to proceed. Sasuke bent over and kissed her on the neck again, this time making a trail up to just below her jaw. The pinkette instinctively leaned into his mouth, her breath unsteady.

"Should I dial it down, then?" He tried to tease her again, but found his own voice was husky. Her hair smelled of apples and _Sakura_ , and the scent was overwhelming his senses.

"Are you sure?" his pink-haired teammate asked, in between heavy breaths, and it was then that Sasuke realized she was still thinking about _him_ even in a moment like this.

In response, Sasuke spun her around, lifted her onto the sink and smashed his mouth onto hers, with the same urgency he conveyed in yesterday's kiss. It was the only thing he could think to do to reassure his teammate; he couldn't do it in words, so he did his best in action, the way he always did.

Sakura kissed him back this time, though, and that was enough to catch him off guard.

"Sasuke-kun—" Sakura broke off, moaning into him, and he couldn't help but grind into her slowly, his hips moving unconsciously against her at the sound of her pleading. "Ah, that feels so good _-_ " she moved her pelvis in a slow circle against Sasuke's growing hard-on.

She gasped again just as he groaned loudly, and he almost lost control at the sound that he heard. Sasuke didn't think he could be this turned on by the sound of someone else's _breathing_ , but here he was, helpless.

He didn't even realize that his eyes had been closed all this time—all he registered was Sakura, her smell, her feel, her sound; and the rest was a forgotten blank. It seemed like forever before they broke away from each other to catch their breaths.

Sasuke finally opened his eyes, and he made up his mind when he saw Sakura's own eyes half-lidded and full of desire. He wanted her.

"Sakura—" he started. "Do you—"

"Yes," she said almost immediately. "I do."

He could only nod, because he did not trust himself to say anything.

The pinkette's eyes widened as the last Uchiha conjured a purple arm, and resumed kissing her as he carried her to her room.

Sasuke stumbled into the kunoichi's room a little less gracefully than he'd intended, but his face was already red so his embarrassment was pushed aside as he kicked the chair he had been sitting on this morning away from the bed and tossed the pinkette onto the mattress.

It was only then that the Uchiha turned off his Susannoo arm and they were plunged into complete darkness in Sakura's room. His eyes slowly adjusted as he crept towards the kunoichi's still bouncing body.

Too slowly. Instinctively, his eyes swirled and he could suddenly see, and he blinked as he acclimatized to the slightly red tinge that encompassed his entire field of view. Not that it mattered because all he could look at was Sakura, who was panting, eyes unfocused and directed at the general direction of the Uchiha. Sasuke drank it all in and let himself memorize every detail that was in front of him. Her heavy breaths, disheveled hair, and the slow smile forming on her parted lips as her eyes adjusted to the darkness as well.

 _Kami, she's beautiful_. He smiled widely.

"What is it?" Sakura had to ask, reaching out and touching the Shinobi's cheek. He was smiling. Not in the almost imperceptible way he usually does, and not even that smirk he does when he teases her; both corners of his mouth were turned up and his eyes crinkled and it made the kunoichi's heart soar.

"Marry me, Sakura."


	3. Tsuki Ga Kirei Desu Ne

"This was not what I had envisioned happening," Uchiha Sasuke mumbled softly, with an equally soft smile on his face.

Sakura could detect the twinge of worry in his voice, however, as he sat there awkwardly rubbing her back.

"I'm _(hic)_ sorry, Sasuke _(hic)_ kun," Sakura managed to get out in between sobs and hiccups.

He was right-she had inexplicably burst into tears after blinking twice at the Shinobi's words earlier.

 _Marry me, Sakura,_ he had said, smiling.

When she was much younger, the dreamy-eyed kunoichi conjured up many scenarios wherein the dark-haired Uchiha would profess his love for her-perhaps after they had survived a near death experience, or during a particularly dramatic sunset, or even after praising her huge forehead (she had quite a lot of insecurities then); but nothing had prepared her for when it had actually happened.

Out of breath in her room, barely registering her surroundings except for that damned smile on the man's face, was not one of those situations.

"No," Sasuke finally said.

"Huh?" Sakura answered, confused.

" _I'm_ sorry, Sakura," Sasuke's voice was still soft, she noticed. "I shouldn't have... Sakura, I have a hard time..." He shook his head, face red as he strained at the effort.

Sakura looked at him, hardly registering anything after "I'm sorry." Sasuke's apologies were few and far between, and the last time he apologized to her (and, she had reason to believe, to anyone for that matter) was after the fourth Shinobi war.

He had the same look on his face, too.

He had looked so repentant, eyes bare and just about ready to beg.

 _Sakura, I'm sorry..._

 _Sorry? For what?_

 _For everything I've done until now..._

She had cried that time and called him stupid and troublesome, and rightly so. Remembering the overwhelming relief she felt as she healed her teammates, Sakura forgot her own discombobulated feelings and cracked a lopsided grin in spite of herself.

Sasuke's eyebrow quirked, demanding an explanation.

Finally calming her breaths, Sakura reached out and touched the Uchiha's cheek lightly, as she made sure her voice was steady. Sasuke's own hand reflexively caught hers, and she almost regretted her unthinking action when he leaned into her touch, still holding her hand in place. This was enough to make her heart stutter for a second.

 _I'm really going to have to get used to this_ , she thought, before she began.

"Sasuke-kun, last year..." She had wanted to talk about defeating the ANBU leader with her companion when he got home ever since it happened, but under more favorable circumstances. But this seemed as appropriate a time as any.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and tried again.

"What happened with the Kido affair..." She immediately felt his hand stiffen above hers. She kept her eyes closed as she continued, afraid she would stop if she saw his face. "When they kidnapped me, they tried to get under my skin so I would give them information about you that I didn't have, and would never even consider giving even if I did. The guy who pretended to be you, he... he told me he loved me.

"It was just one of the things they did to rile me up," she continued, shrugging her shoulders, but she could feel her companion's body heat radiating in ripples, as she realized his chakra was agitated. Her eyes were still closed, however, and she still refused to look. "I knew it wasn't you, of course, but it still hurt. It was one of the things that I never thought... anyway, when you asked me to marry you, it was all so sudden and it was one of the most bizarre things I had ever witnessed, and I almost thought for a cruel moment that it was Genjutsu."

She realized her voice had gotten to a whisper and she wasn't even sure if Sasuke could still hear her. So she finally opened her eyes to take a peek at him, and was surprised to see how intense the fire inside his coal black eyes were. It wasn't at her, but he was still angry. She didn't like that look on his face.

"Sasuke-kun, don't worry about it," she smiled. "Like I said I knew it wasn't you, and I'm just glad I could tell you about it now, to be honest." She shrugged. She reached out with her other hand to try and smooth out the knot that formed between the Shinobi's eyebrows.

It was silent for a while, as the kunoichi watched the fire seep away from his eyes. When his expression turned almost calm, Sakura stopped rubbing Sasuke's forehead. She smiled softly and looked away, remembering a similar situation but with her on the receiving end.

"He... used to poke me on the forehead."

Sakura's breath caught, knowing immediately who Sasuke was talking about. She looked back at the Uchiha, wondering if he could somehow read her mind.

Almost half a minute passed and she thought that would be it. It was like he was treading on eggshells and she could tell even trying to recall was painful for him, so she smiled, trying to say _It's okay, you don't have to say anything more, I understand._

Instead, he continued.

"I would ask him to train with me and he would always say _'Sorry, Sasuke, maybe next time,'_ and..." Sasuke seemed lost in thought as he released her hand and pushed his pointer and middle finger on her forehead.

"I loved him the most, and although I didn't know at the time, it turned out he loved me the most, too."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. _It was his and Itachi's, and he decided to share it with her_. She felt her entire face grow hot, as she realized fully how much that gesture meant to him. What it meant... and the fact that he did it three and a half years ago...

"You- Sasuke-kun-"

"The moon..." He began, then cleared his throat, looking away. "looks beautiful, doesn't it?"

Her mouth dropped open.

"Sakura?" He looked at her, worried.

His eyes were shining and vulnerable, looking to her for a reaction, any kind of reaction.

She didn't really trust herself to say anything, so she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. She couldn't help but be a little rough, her hands tightening around Sasuke's hair. He moaned into her, hand sliding down to her waist, probably just happy he got some semblance of a reaction. When they both ran out of breath, she pulled away.

"So," Sasuke began. "Will you?"

"Will I what?" Sakura looked up at him innocently but her smile was too saccharine.

The shinobi's eyes glinted at the challenge.

" _Marry me_ , Haruno Sakura."

Her smile widened.

"No."

Pause.

"No?" His eyebrows scrunched in confusion, hurt.

"Well, yes," she laughed, not able to help herself. "I love you, Uchiha Sasuke. But like, take me out to dinner first."

He grinned.

"Like a date?" Her heart swooned at the way the shinobi uttered the words.

"I know this spot, it overlooks the ocean. I'll show it to you, when... you go with me on my mission."

She gasped, and screamed as she tackled him.

"Sasuke-kun, you won't regret it, I swear!"

"I know," he murmured. "You're the most capable kunoichi in the village, and more than that, I trust you."

She softened at that, and started, seeming to remember something.

"I almost forgot... since you so tastefully told me you loved me," she teased, grinning as the shinobi beneath her grunted in annoyance. "I suppose you at least deserve to hear the proper response, Uchiha-san."

Her eyes shined as she recited: "I can die happy."

 _ **So that little shout-out to Sayonara MoonTown... hahaha! Since I heard that song (Boruto ED2), I always had this headcanon that that was how Sasuke told Sakura that he loved her.**_

 _ **To those of you who aren't familiar with it, the phrase "Tsuki ga kirei desu ne" (The moon is beautiful, isn't it?) is an old Japanese way of saying "I love you." Sasuke's a traditional guy, ya know? It suits him. What do you think? 3**_


	4. 許婚

**So midterms is over and I thought an update was due! Mostly I got encouraged by all your nice comments... You guys are the best! Thank you for reading!**

"We don't," Sasuke insisted irritably.

"Yes, we do," Sakura fought back patiently.

"We can do it ourselves," the Shinobi said, not budging.

"I know we can, but a little help would be nice..."

"Isn't telling them there's 'potential trouble' enough? It would be burdensome to involve them even more."

"But they should—"

"Nothing's certain, yet, Sakura, this is just a hunch."

"Then we can always retract later on..."

"That only causes unnecessary anxiety. Tell her, Kakashi."

They were at the Hokage's Office, proposing a Gokage Summit. They had already agreed that it was proper to tell the other Kage that Sasuke has been hearing rumors and sensing disturbances that would necessarily send him out on an intel mission, but Sakura kept insisting that the Kages should know just how big the threat possibly was.

"So you finally decided I was here, too?" The Rokudaime sighed dramatically, putting his chin on his hand and looking at his former students. "My my, now I know how Naruto felt all those years, Sakura..."

"W-What are you talking about?" The kunoichi blushed, embarrassed at the insinuation.

They had told the Rokudaime earlier of Sasuke's proposal-well, Sakura did, as it was when they were in public and Sasuke was less talkative—and even though the kunoichi had tried to make it brief and to the point so they could get to business, Kakashi had not been able to help but tease them.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, impatient.

"Sakura is right," the Hokage finally said slowly. "It would be beneficial for everybody if we all knew how much we possibly have to prepare for this 'trouble'. We can control how much information actually gets out, of course, so you don't have to worry about that. But it's integral that the Kages know."

"I don't even know what I'm looking for yet. For all we know, this could take years," Sasuke set his jaw, stubborn.

"Sasuke, stop trying to do things on your own," his former sensei looked lazily up at the Uchiha, but his look was anything but lazy.

Kakashi's eyes glinted sharply, and Sasuke knew that was the end of it.

The last Uchiha closed his eyes and sighed, defeated.

"Besides," Kakashi added, the glint turning mischievous. "If the Kages knew about your mission, you could get free passes to everything and enjoy benefits! Like inns, hot springs and such!"

"Kaka-sensei..." Sakura warned.

"I'm sure the mission would be taxing and you would need places to stay, that's all," their former teacher said dismissively.

"Next week?" Sasuke interrupted.

The Hokage nodded.

Sasuke would have wanted to hash things out with his new traveling companion, but the two of them rarely saw each other in the next few days even with him staying at Sakura's apartment. The medical nin went back to her hectic schedule, and this caused her to come home during odd hours into the night. As much as he would have liked to wait for her, Kakashi somehow decided it was best to assign him to fodder missions during the week prior to the Gokage meeting; missions that although were insultingly easy, would nevertheless take all day and tire him out by the time he went home himself.

 _Home_. He paused at the thought, as he removed his sandals and locked the door behind him, another day over. It had been a long time since he'd been able to call a specific place home. Konoha was his home, he thought reluctantly, sure, but this apartment which he had just been acquainted with for not even a week felt like home to him enough that he could call it that, because... well, Sakura was here.

He was embarrassed about such a forward thought, and remembered the last time they were alone and what almost happened...

In his defense, he had planned it all out from the moment Naruto sent him that message telling him Sakura's reference to him being Konoha's secret one-man police force. His heart had swelled with pride and nostalgia and hurt and love all at the same time he could barely contain it. Sakura... this girl had made him feel this way over and over again throughout the years... saying things without even knowing how much her words meant to him.

Sakura had always made him feel, even when they were Genin—a fact he used to be annoyed at because that was the exact opposite of what he was trying to do. Feelings were a distraction from his goal. But that was before... it didn't annoy him now. And when he had read the letter he thought maybe it was time... to fulfill his promise of seeing her again. Besides, there was that strange feeling he had about Kaguya that he wanted to relay to Kakashi... it was just a hunch, but he figured it was relevant enough to report.

He had turned almost immediately around and walked back to the direction of Konoha, thinking of what he was going to do. He was going to report to Kakashi, wait for his decision about his gut feeling, and in the meantime... he was going to catch up with Sakura. Yes, that seemed valid. Maybe he could even take her out on a date like a normal boy would with a girl he liked—he smirked then, hardly believing he was allowing himself to think about such things. Kami knows he didn't deserve it, after all he's done—

He cut himself off then. Shaking his head, the Uchiha decided he should take a shower now before his body could get any ideas about falling asleep on him. He stripped and folded his clothes neatly beside Sakura's laundry basket, went inside the stall and sighed as he turned on the shower.

It was still a struggle. No matter how much people appreciated him for what he accomplished during his redemption journey, there was still the matter of himself accepting he deserved any semblance of happiness in this life after all he did.

Him coming home... to Sakura, was the first step towards that.

He allowed himself a smile as he scrubbed himself clean, thinking how quickly things spiraled out of control. He had congratulated himself for getting her that take-out ramen—it had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, although it didn't help with her fainting.

He frowned, taking a mental note to ask her about her fainting spells later. The hot water was turning cold now, anyway, so he took a clean towel out of one of the cabinets and turned the shower off.

"—ke- _kun_? Where are you?" A muffled voice reached the shinobi as the spray stopped.

Ah, she was home early.

Sasuke wrapped the towel around his waist and went outside into the kitchen, where sure enough, the pink-haired kunoichi was in the process of taking off her lab coat and hanging it on the coat rack with her back towards him, muttering about something he couldn't quite hear.

"Sakura," the shinobi called, intending to make her repeat what she was saying.

"Oh great," the medical nin exclaimed, turning around. "You're here. I was thinking—um..." She paused, staring at him.

Sasuke raised his brow, urging her to continue.

Sakura's eyes went over him top to bottom and he saw her cheeks turn pink.

" _Tadaima_ ," she burst out.

" _Okaeri_ ," he responded, amused.

Four whole seconds went by.

"You were saying?" Sasuke went to the countertop to pour himself a glass of water.

Sakura shook her head and tried to continue.

"I wanted to take you to see my kids!"

Sasuke audibly choked on his water.

"Your—"

"Oh, no," Sakura turned even more pink, and tried again. "I meant my patients. They're mostly kids, and I've wanted you to meet them for a while now."

"Ah," Sasuke had heard about Sakura's mental health clinics for children even during his travels. She had gained tremendous praise for them throughout all the nations he's been in. It was something he was very proud of as well. She had truly, truly made something of herself. Someone who, even beyond the battlefield, everyone could rely on.

He went over to her and cupped her face, tucking the few strands that escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

"I'd be glad to," Sasuke whispered softly.

"Ah," Sakura squeaked. "You're very wet."

"Sorry," Sasuke said, not sounding sorry at all.

She was very aware of the minimal distance between her face and his, and the fact that it seemed to be lessening.

"Why is my fiancee embarrassed?" the shinobi suddenly asked, getting even closer. Sakura could feel his breath on her cheeks now even if she could barely hear him.

"I'm not embarrassed," she muttered just as softly, knowing full well she was lying and he could so obviously tell.

"Right."

"Right!"

Neither of them could take their eyes off each other.

Sasuke was less than an inch away now.

"Oh," Sakura whispered quietly.

"What?" he asked, curious.

"You said 'fiancee'." Sakura smiled sweetly up at him, her eyes sparkling and making Sasuke's heart stutter.

He had thought Sakura needed to get used to him, but he just now realized that was also the case the other way around.


	5. Family

"—scary!" One of the boys whispered.

"—handsome, Sakura-nee san! " A little girl said loudly.

"—that a real purple eye? Whoa!" Another boy pointed with his prosthetic arm.

"Now now, children, give Sasuke-nii san a little space, okay?" Sakura implored, smiling nervously at the more or less ten kids flocking towards Sasuke for a closer look.

"It's okay, Sakura," the shinobi said, speaking for the first time since they entered the building. His voice was soft but enough to make her glance up at him from the squatting position she was in, a position she often used when talking to her kids.

Earlier, she had noticed the stiff manner her companion had held himself in. He of course was not making it so obvious on his face, but she had known him for a long time and she knew what he looked like when he was nervous. She had contemplated and decided he needed to hear something, anything. So up until before they entered the play room, Sakura had been babbling about her work and orienting Sasuke about the kind of therapy her patients had been going through in the clinic, even what each individual kid was like, at least the ones who had to stay in the clinic for a period of time.

They held eyes and she smiled at him then, encouraging him to speak to the kids. The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly and he squatted down beside her, looking around at the children's big, curious eyes.

"You're... Gin, right?" He addressed the boy with the prosthetic arm.

"Yessir!" The little blond grinned up at him, showing all his teeth.

Sakura looked at Sasuke, surprised. She had been babbling but she didn't think Sasuke had been listening to her. It was just something to fill the nervous air he was wallowing in earlier.

"Sakura-nee san told me all about you. You look like a friend of ours."

"Really? Who?"

"Did she talk about me, too, Sasuke-nii?"

"Yes, of course... Araya."

"And me?"

Sakura smiled as she stood up quietly and went to get them all some snacks. Sasuke was doing well with the kids, a fact that made her chest bubble with warmth.

When she came back with a server pushing a trolley full of food Sasuke was sitting on the floor with the children gathered around him. He seemed to be telling a story about his snake and hawk summons Aoda and Garuda.

"Okay, children, it's time to eat! Line up quietly please," she called, smiling as they hesitantly left Sasuke's side.

"They seem to like you a lot," she giggled, sitting down beside him on the play mat. He looked adorable, especially with his dark monochromatic blacks against the bright hues in the room.

"They're a good bunch," he remarked. "You do this often?"

"Do what?"

"Visit, talk to them."

"Well..." She thought. "They're all assigned to different specialists now but some difficult cases are still with me. I don't want the other kids to feel left out so yes, I visit as often as I can, everyday if I could."

"Hn, they seem very attached to you," was what he said in response.

Sakura giggled. "I should hope so. I consider them all family."

"Is that so, Sakura-nee san?"

"Indeed, Sasuke-nii," she teased back.

Sasuke liked that she was getting more and more used to this side of him, and used the opportunity to show more affection, leaning closer and brushing a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

"Ewwww, Sasuke-nii, don't do that here!" Gin called out, startling them both.

* * *

They spent about 3 more hours with the kids, and said goodbye to 10 pairs of puppy eyes and grumbles.

"When will you come back?"

"Next time, Megumi."

"Will Sasuke-nii come with you again?"

"Well I don't know, Yu, he's a very busy shinobi doing important work for the village."

"Aww but—"

"I'll definitely come next time," Sasuke said, and the tiny crowd erupted in cheers and finally let them go.

"Sasuke-kun you shouldn't promise the kids things you aren't sure of," Sakura said gently as she closed the door behind them. "I know it was something you wanted to do, but they'll expect and..."

"I meant what I said," the shinobi replied softly. "I liked spending time with them."

Sasuke did feel a little drained, as any interaction with a big crowd did to him, but he did have fun, and the widest smile erupted on Sakura's face that made it all worth it.

Sakura casually grabbed the empty sleeve of his left arm and continued walking forward, taking him with her and walking in companionable silence.

"I... wanted you to meet my family as well," Sasuke revealed.

He heard Sakura's breath hitch a little. She didn't know he wanted to do this. The Uchiha compound was a little ways off from the hospital, but only about a 15 minute walk judging by Sasuke's pace.

He looked down at her, smiling gently. But she was still silent as they walked out of the hospital together, and so Sasuke decided to do what she did for him earlier, and started talking.

"They would have loved you," he whispered.

Sakura looked up at him, unsure of what to say. She saw Sasuke hold up three fingers.

"You're a distinguished kunoichi in the battlefield and the medical profession, and you surpassed your master, a Sannin. And you did it all without a clan, a tailed beast, or _kekkei genkai_. So that's my father's approval right there." He ticked off one finger.

"You're incredibly kind, not to mention someone who does everything she can to help the village. Nii-san would have approved of you as well." Sasuke paused. "And he loved sweets, you would have bonded over them. I would have been jealous and try to hold off on you meeting him at all."

Sakura watched him tick off another, but let out a breathy giggle in spite of herself.

"And my okaa-san... she would have taken one look at you and... she... would have loved you for loving me." He smiled and ticked off the last finger.

"Sasuke-kun..." She bit her lip. He stared ahead for a few more seconds and looked at her, smiling.

"I'm sure, Sakura."

She nodded, falling into stride beside him.

* * *

The sun was setting when they arrived at the Naka shrine. It was situated at the very edge to the village, not to mention nobody ever went there, so it was as quiet as Sakura expected. The leaves crunched loudly and there was barely any wind, so they could whisper and still hear each other.

"Otou-san, Okaa-san, Onii-san. This is Sakura." Sasuke said softly.

His hair looked almost brown in the sunlight, influenced by the orange hues that saturated the sky. His face lost some of the few lines it had as well, and he almost looked like the boy she once knew.

Sakura was silent, aware of the fragility of the moment, and anxious that she'll break it. But Sasuke surprised her by taking her hand. She was unaware that she had been biting her lip this whole time, and finally let out a breath she had been unconsciously holding.

"He-hello," she whispered.

"Sakura," Sasuke said tentatively.

"Yes?" She looked up, squeezing his hand.

"Can I... tell you about them?"

She smiled. "Yes."

* * *

The walk home was two hours later, well into the evening, and was mostly spent in companionable silence. Sakura felt like she was closer to Sasuke than she's ever been, and she was very, very happy. They were near Sakura's apartment when the kunoichi decided to propose what she'd been thinking about since earlier.

"My parents..." Sakura's smile calmed into a soft one. "They're still on vacation for a few days but I would very much like you to meet them as soon as they come back. I'm sure they would be very excited..."

Sasuke barely knitted his eyebrows, but she noticed.

"Sasuke-kun," she said, "they will. They support me in everything I do."

"Even marrying a criminal?"

"Don't refer to yourself as something you're not," she said fiercely, grabbing hold of either side of his face with her two hands.

"I'm... sorry," he said slowly. "My sins—"

"—Are a thing of the past, something you have been forgiven for a thousand times over. And the amount of things you did in your atonement journey more than made up for everything!"

"Sakura..." He said, unable to look at her directly. "I'm aware that you deserve better than me."

The kunoichi harrumphed and put her hands on her waist, raising her entire face as if in a challenge.

"I think I deserve to love who I love," she said snippily. "After all we've been through, I think I deserve you."

This remark made Sasuke glance at his companion's face, him being acutely aware that this was the third time she confessed she loved him. Granted, they were already engaged, but every time Sakura confesses, it seemed like it rocked him to his very core. His expression changed as he saw her eyes were a little shinier than usual.

"Sakura that's not what I—"

"And I think you deserve to love who you love, Sasuke-kun," her voice broke, but her eyes remained fierce as they locked with his.

Those eyes, those green, green eyes were looking at him, were beseeching him to listen. He realized another thing: this was the first time Sakura said such things while looking him straight in the eye. All the other times, he was looking away, and if it was hard to resist her then, it was damn near impossible to resist her now.

So he did what his heart told him to—Sasuke reached out and held Sakura's face gently, wiped the unknowing tear that fell from the corner of her eye (she always had trouble holding back her emotions) and looked at her tenderly for the next five minutes or so, wishing she would know what he wanted to convey with how he was looking at her.

"Where would I be," he finally broke the silence. "Without your love for me, Haruno Sakura?"

* * *

"Sakura-chaaaaan!" The boisterous shout came out of nowhere, but Sakura sensed her friend's chakra first before she heard it, which was the only reason she didn't jump.

"Oh, hey, Naruto," she said as she turned. "What's up?"

"You tell me!" Sakura raised her eyebrow at the blond's tone, and he immediately deflated. "I mean, I just came back from my mission, and I heard from Kakashi-sensei that you and teme—"

"Shush!" The kunoichi looked around at the hallway nervously. "It isn't supposed to be news yet. It's only been a week. We weren't planning to tell anyone until after the Gokage Summit."

"That's right, the Gokage Summit, Kakashi-sensei told me about that," Naruto said, scratching his head. "Hey! Speaking of which, he told me to tell you he's asking for the audience."

"The what?"

"The audience."

"Don't you mean an audience?"

"Uh, yeah, that's what I said."

Sakura sighed.

"With... me?"

"Yeah, the audience with you, Sakura-chan."

"Naruto..."

"Tell me all about it okay! I gotta go for now, I'm hungry!"

Sakura chuckled.

"Of course you are."

Naruto kissed her on the cheek and waved goodbye.

"'Bye, Sakura-chan!"

She waved in response, the orange-clad Shinobi too far away to hear her whispered farewell.

* * *

"Well, I brought the audience," Sakura said cheerfully as she went inside the Hokage office.

"What?" Kakashi looked up at her, confused.

"Never mind, Kakashi-sensei, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Sakura..."

The kunoichi paused, tilting her head to the side.

"Are you okay, Kakashi-sensei? You seem—"

"Haruno Sakura," a scratchy female voice resounded.

Sakura looked behind her, then her face fell as she registered the familiar figures coming inside the Hokage office. Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.

Sakura bowed at the Konoha Council, her mind reeling. These two being in the same room was not good news.

"Mitokado-san, Utatane-san," she greeted stiffly.

"It has come to our knowledge that you are engaged to the Uchiha criminal," Homura said, not wasting any time, apparently.

Sakura's hand clenched into a fist.

 _How did_ —she thought but said nothing, knowing if she did, a barrage of insults and threats would pour out. She was not as powerful as her Shishou had been to get away with it.

"You are an important asset to the Hidden Leaf, Haruno," Koharu added. "We cannot simply—"

"He is, too," she grounded out, eventually regretting it.

"What?"

"Uchiha Sasuke is an important asset to Konoha, too," she decided to continue. She tried her best to look at the two, but she imagined she looked more like deer trapped in headlights.

 _Shannaro. Why is this happening? Why are these old geezers even still alive?_

"Maybe so," Homura interrupted her thoughts. "But he has a... dark past that we cannot overlook. As you know, you have become an important Shinobi, one looked up to by many. Uzumaki Naruto might have become the poster-child for peace, but you have become the face of progress."

"I would strongly disagree—"

"Of course you would," Koharu interrupted impatiently. "But you must understand that our entire livelihood, the Shinobi livelihood, is first and foremost a business. And business has been going steadily down since the war ended. What is left keep coming to us because of Uzumaki and you. However, if this goes on, it might give off the wrong impression."

 _This is a nightmare_ , she thought. _This has to be._

"We cannot just forget the fact that Uchiha is a very different person from Uzumaki. He will scare off people. Now, we would like you to consider Sabakyuu no Gaara for example. I'm sure he was very grateful to you for saving his brother and erecting a mental health clinic in Suna, where he is the Kazekage. Just imagine—"

"No," Sakura breathed out heavily. "You can't—you can't just ask me—"

"Haruno, you mistake us," Koharu's eyes were dull, but they bore into her. "You are first and foremost a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. This is not a request."

Her mouth was dry, and she felt all the blood drain from her face. She suddenly couldn't breathe.

 _It's not fair. It's not fair, it's not fair._

It seemed like every part of her felt drained of blood as she braced herself for what she knew was coming.

"Haruno Sakura, we, the Konoha council, ask you to break off your engagement to former international criminal Uchiha Sasuke."


	6. Sakura's Decision

For the next three seconds Sakura's mind didn't want to register the rest of what Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were saying. In fact, she wanted to just either crumble on the ground and cry, or beat them to a pulp. Neither seemed very doable especially as she was inside the office of the most powerful man in Konoha.

On paper.

Because Sakura realized, as she looked at Kakashi's face begging for reprieve and the latter could only look back at her for a second before looking away in shame, the two members of the Konoha Council were even more powerful than the Hokage.

And as she thought about how Kakashi couldn't do anything about the situation, she came to know that neither, no matter what she did, could she.

So as she swallowed a broken sob as quietly as she could, she listened.

"—creetly as possible, and it's a good call on your part not to have announced the engagement sooner.

"As for the Gokage meeting Uchiha wanted," Homura continued. "It would be inappropriate for him to demand such a thing from the other Kage. It would seem presumptuous and it simply wouldn't do."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. It's not that she didn't trust herself to speak anymore, it's that she was too shocked to say anything.

"He wasn't the one who requested a Gokage meeting, Sasuke didn't even want to hold one," Kakashi managed.

"Still, the request is based on a report he made, and on a mission he is about to embark on."

Sakura never felt as helpless as she did now. These two were jeopardizing an important mission all because of their pride and their baseless hate for Sasuke!

"Well what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to warn the other Kage?" Sakura grit her teeth, barely reigning in her anger.

The other two seemed prepared for her question, however.

"You and Uchiha will go from one hidden village to the next, in the guise of creating partnerships with the other Kage to set up those clinics you have been working on."

"You're using my advocacy to mask this—this—"

"We will give you the budget you need, and there's no pretense in this. We're sure the other Kage want to talk about these clinics as well, given the positive results they have in Konoha and Suna."

Sakura was torn.

"This could take months. Sasuke-kun's mission is of utmost importance—"

"Then we suggest you get going, Haruno," Homura interrupted rudely. "We suggest going to Suna first, of course. And while you're there, you may want to think about what we said about the Kazekage. We already sent a letter about you coming."

"You what?!"

"Good luck, Haruno," Koharu said firmly.

And with that, the two walked out.

Sakura's mouth was agape, and she was furious.

She had always prided herself in knowing what to do in dire situations brought about by her life as a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf—she acted logically and without hesitation. She was, after all, a soldier. But right now, there was a gaping conflict of interest between her duty and her happiness. She wouldn't have minded, truly, but this involved Sasuke's happiness, too.

To her horror, she realized that if Sasuke were to find out the elders issued this command, he might do something reckless. She did not want to be presumptuous and wish the worst, but Sasuke seeking revenge was not a risk she was willing to take. Was able to be at peace (at least, he said so) with what they did to Itachi, but what would taking away his choice at a future do to him?

And Naruto... she can't involve Naruto in this. She knew he would stop at nothing to help his two best friends, but at what cost? This was all politics, and his dream of becoming a Hokage could be at stake.

She... would have to go through it alone.

"Sakura—"

"It's fine, sensei. I understand," she whispered, but she knew Kakashi could hear her. The quiet in the room was deafening to them both.

"Sakura, look at me," Kakashi pleaded.

She obliged, because she had never heard that tone in her sensei's voice before.

Even then, her lips trembled, and she held her breath, knowing that if she spoke she would truly break.

"You would have to deal with it for now, but I promise... I'll find a way. Sakura, listen to me. I'll find a way."

She could only nod, tell him her plan, and watch his face took on an alarmed look.

"Please, just let me do it," she begged her sensei. "It's the only way."

Hatake Kakashi nodded as Sakura started to walk away, knowing he would regret this decision for the rest of his life.

* * *

She broke three practice dummies in the training grounds (and, arguably, the particular training ground itself she was on) before she decided to go home.

"Where were you?" Sasuke greeted as she walked into her apartment. "The dobe was here earlier, talking about the audience or some other unintelligible thing."

He had such an easy smile on his face, one that he showed only her, and she bit her lip at the effort of forcing her tears to stay put. She was going to take that smile away.

"Kakashi-sensei's office," she explained. "He's asking for you too, as well."

Sasuke noticed right away.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly, inching closer towards her.

She looked at his face and started to raise her hand to touch it.

"Sakura?" Her _fiancé_ tilted his head as he looked at her, confused.

Fiancé _... surely not anymore, soon_ , she thought.

 _He would hate me, and I have to be okay with that for the rest of my life._

She would have to break his heart. So he would be free.

 _Don't hesitate. You decided you would do this two hours ago._

She stopped her urge to touch his face.

"This was a mistake," she said, barely making out the words.

Sasuke stiffened, with his mouth opening almost imperceptibly in shock.

"Which part?" He said after what seemed like forever.

Sakura exhaled, wondering if she would ever be able to do this.

"Everything, Sasuke-kun," she managed. "Me agreeing to marry you, you living here. It's not what I want."

Sasuke was silent. Then—

"Did someone put you put to this?" He asked softly.

"No," she said. It was taking everything she had not to cry.

"The other day, you said..." But Sasuke pursed his lips and didn't continue.

"I know, Sasuke-kun, but I... I thought about it really hard and, considering the steps I'm taking towards my career in the medical field and child trauma caused by war, I don't think it's a good idea marrying someone who..."

She couldn't go on, her voice cracked, and she heard Sasuke gasp softly.

"Do you really mean it, Sakura?"

She couldn't look at him. She couldn't bear to see the way his eyes looked right now.

She forced herself to in the end, and nodded.

What she saw on Sasuke's face broke her heart more than she could imagine, and she was glad he looked away because if he didn't, she would have taken everything back.

She didn't know what she expected he would do, maybe accuse her of lying to him about loving him or tell her he shouldn't have told her all those things about his family. Break her heart in return.

She didn't expect him to say "I understand," nod, and walk away silently to go to the Hokage tower.

Sasuke had accepted her rejection too easily. Almost as if he had expected it. Almost as if he knew she was one day going to change his mind.

I am aware that you deserve better than me, he had said.

He was wrong, utterly wrong. But it didn't make what was happening now any less true.

Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke were no more.

It wasn't until his chakra faded a safe amount that she finally broke down and wept.

* * *

"Sakura," a hesitant voice called.

The kunoichi jumped from the bench she was sitting on, jittery ever since she got there, knowing she would be meeting Sasuke today after she broke up with him three days ago.

"Sasuke-kun!" She greeted, then tried to check herself, hoping she didn't sound to surprised or enthusiastic. She was surprised he was here this early. She had been because she couldn't sleep anymore. But Sasuke had always been on time even when they were little.

She didn't know where he stayed the past three days; probably his old apartment that Kakashi had kept for him, making his reports ready for the four Kage. She in turn spent the last three days sorting through her files, delegating the work she was about to leave, and saying goodbye to her patients for the time being.

And actively avoiding the Uchiha.

"I'm sorry I didn't take you to say goodbye to the kids," she said. "I know you said you wanted to go see them again."

"I did," he looked at her, smiling softly.

She pursed her lips, resisting the urge to curse. Why did he look immaculate today? The rising sun tinged his skin tone with a little pink, making her heart hurt. She in turn probably looked like a mess since she didn't get a wink of sleep last night.

"I visited yesterday, when you weren't there," he continued. "I hope you don't mind," he added.

She suddenly remembered what she said to him the other night.

"Of course not," she said firmly.

"Ah," he thanked. He looked like he wanted to say something else, decided against it and walked forward, checking his things.

She groaned mentally, wondering how long this mission would take. She started doing the same, checking if she forgot anything.

 _Ninja tools? Check._

 _Medical supplies? Check._

 _Proposal scrolls? Check._

 _Broken heart? Check._

"Sakura," Sasuke called. "Are you ready to go?"

* * *

 ** _Hi guys, I hope you don't hate me too much for doing this to Sasuke on his birthday. But yayyy I finally updated! Hahaha I hope you guys liked this update, please review/comment if you did!_**


	7. 愛

_Chapter Summary: And on they went to travel the world together, except not… together. Newly heartbroken, Sakura treads lightly on the fragile beginnings of a new friendship with the love of her life. A strange set of circumstances then led to her discovering things not only about Sasuke but about the mysterious but gentle Sabakyuu no Gaara._

* * *

She was exhausted, but didn't say anything.

It had been three days of traveling across Fire, only resting when necessary and when both of them were in such states of exhaustion they practically fainted on the forest grounds (at least, Sakura did, since Sasuke always insisted on taking first watch). Kakashi had of course handed Sakura a piece of paper that would supposedly guarantee them a room anywhere, but she was pretty sure those rooms were for a couple and that just wouldn't do. Silently, Sasuke had acquiesced to sleeping on the forest grounds, always the one saying when as Sakura stubbornly resisted stagnancy.

They had barely spoken those three days, except for her trying desperately to achieve some sort of small talk until finally giving up. After all, why would Sasuke want to be friends with her right now? She would have to wait. Maybe it would never happen, even. She tried to push that thought away.

"Let's set up camp in the next clearing," Sasuke's quiet voice permeated through the otherwise silent of their jumping through trees.

"I could still—"

"Sakura," the Uchiha reprimanded slightly, breaking through her mulish tone.

They were now trekking a minor country called the Land of Rivers, and there were many clearings, far more than there have been in Fire. The next one was already in sight, and Sakura was admittedly relieved they were getting some rest. But that also meant more awkward silence.

"Should I take first watch?" She relented, slowing down. The shinobi matched her pace and appeared to think about it.

"No, I'll do it. You're exhausted."

"But Sasuke-kun," she started to say, then bit her lip. She hasn't said that name in three days, not since before they left Konoha.

She had felt like she didn't have the right to call him by his usual name and suffix, and so actively refrained from it.

If Sasuke had noticed, he didn't show, and even now only slowed down more as trees thinned and jumped to the ground to walk to the clearing ahead.

She followed suit.

"You always take first watch," she half complained, half pointed out as they finally broke through the trees and out into a sizable clearing. Taking a deep breath and releasing it she let her body drop onto the ground, closing her eyes and stretching as if about to make a snow angel in the middle of spring.

"You always wait until the latest possible time to tell me you need rest," she heard him reply.

"I don't tell you, you assume," she grumbled, opening her eyes to glare at her companion.

"I don't assume, I know," the Uchiha smirked.

For some reason, they looked at each other then and she smiled back tiredly.

"You haven't changed," Sakura allowed, momentarily forgetting they were supposed to be walking on eggshells around each other.

Sasuke grunted, amused.

"What?"

He hesitated.

"I don't know if I that's a good thing."

"Well... I meant you're still the Sasuke-kun I remember from our genin days. So make of that what you will," she giggled.

"Sakura," the raven-haired Uchiha started.

Sakura turned to him in trepidation. This was what she was afraid of. What was going to happen now?

"Nothing," the boy turned away. "You can go ahead and rest."

Sakura sighed, but she didn't know if it was out of sadness or relief.

* * *

Sakura woke up from the heat. Thinking it was from the blanket surrounding her (how did that get there?) or Sasuke's supposedly built campfire, she looked around and decided it was noisy too.

Noisy?

"—kura, wake up!"

Huh?

Then a shuriken whipped past her face with a woosh, missing her cheek by a hair.

Senses immediately heightened, her kunoichi instincts took over. As she got up she felt a dart was stuck on her neck where the heat she felt earlier had concentrated, and she removed it, smelling it for good measure.

Sleeping draught. She was resistant to most poisons due to her medical training, especially after her encounter with the Sand Shinobi Sasori. This must have been quite the concoction to knock her unconscious for as long as she was.

 _Blink._

She located Sasuke who was a few meters away fighting fifteen—fifteen?—shinobi on his own. Five were already down, and the look on his face was more irritated than hurt. Still, she worried. His chakra levels couldn't have been good, since he hadn't even slept to replenish it! And that was entirely her fault.

 _Blink._

She noticed some of the grass surrounding them were lined with the black flames of Amaterasu, which meant this fight was serious—these shinobi had intent to kill. Sasuke wouldn't have used his deadly technique otherwise.

 _Blink._

They weren't making any move to fight her—in fact they had planned to keep her out of said fight, even to the point of drugging her.

 _Blink._

The light reflected on their forehead protectors revealed the house-like insignia of the Hidden Valleys Village. Maybe they were scared Sasuke was still a terrorist? But why were they this many?

 _Blink._

Sasuke was clearly on the defense, sticking to parrying the attacks directed towards him.

Realizing these people attacked Sasuke without even questioning him first, when the latter was very clearly not willing to fight back, she became irrationally angry. Making up her mind, she surged forward and gathered chakra around her fist.

Sasuke, who had noticed the green glow, caught her eye and she hoped to Kami he understood what she was about to do and it seemed he did, because at the very last moment Sasuke bit his thumb, before—

"Shannarooooo!"

Sakura punched the ground, launching the Hidden Valleys shinobi hundreds of feet into the air. They would have been seriously injured as Sakura had intended, but a cloud of smoke revealed a giant blue snake in front of her and instead of hurtling straight towards the ground, the snake acted as a cushion for the shinobi's falling bodies before they slid to the ground. Still, they all appeared unconscious.

Good.

She took a deep calming breath and looked at the huge mass before her.

She swallowed, quite intimidated by Sasuke's summoning, but tried very hard not to let it show on her face. Anyway, this one didn't seem quite as terrifying as Orochimaru's Manda, and she had fought alongside him once during the war. Vaguely, she remembered his name.

"Aoda…"

"Sssssakura-ssssama…" the snake summon hissed, surprising Sakura.

"—sama?" She stuttered, still scared but more perplexed at what she heard.

"Sssssasuke-sssama has told me to obey your wishes in case anything happened to him. I asssssume this is one of those timessss?"

The snake then revealed Sasuke's unconscious body behind the protective cover of his tail, and she gasped as she checked his pulse.

She had a billion questions, but this wasn't the time for them.

"Yes," Sakura replied instead, sighing in relief. "Although don't worry, your master only fainted from overexertion, I think. But we do need to get away from here quickly. Would you…"

"Of courssssse, Ssssssakura-sssama," the snake bowed low, a sign for her to get on.

Sakura gingerly picked up Sasuke's unconscious body, carrying him as gently as she could potato-sack-like over her shoulder and jumped onto Aoda's head.

"Where to, Ssssakura-sssama?"

She hadn't thought of that. Might as well take advantage of her ride and go directly to their first Kage.

"Onwards to Suna, please, Aoda."

"As you wish..."

* * *

Gaara welcomed them himself, having been told beforehand by local snakes of their arrival (upon Sakura's suggestion to Aoda, of course. It was only proper).

After thanking Aoda and watching the latter vanish into a puff of smoke, Sakura immediately requested a room in the infirmary for Sasuke, where she would work on restoring his chakra. The journey on Aoda's back had been quick but because they were going so fast, she wasn't able to do a basic check-up on Sasuke's body because she was too busy hanging on for dear life.

Gaara nodded quietly and complied with Sakura's requests himself. Sakura noted this and took a mental note to thank him later. He had also asked if she needed assistants but when she declined politely, he had nodded again and given her a room key.

"I would… need two, actually," she said awkwardly.

"Ah," the Kazekage exclaimed, slight confusion marring his features for a split second.

"Aren't you…?" he began, but decided not to pursue the issue. "I understand. I'll have it prepared as soon as possible. I've heard from the snakes you two were attacked by Hidden Valley shinobi?"

Sakura nodded grimly, already halfway through the check-up already. Sasuke seemed to be fine, just chakra-depleted like she presumed earlier. She started replenishing his chakra, an almost infinitesimal task now to the practiced medical ninja. As she did her routine-like task, she answered Gaara's question.

"I'm not sure yet, but I think someone was behind it. There were too many attackers so I doubt they were just shinobi on patrol. Besides, they drugged me and only fought Sasuke-kun."

Gaara narrowed his eyes.

"This is suspicious indeed. I'll have someone look into it, then. Would you and Sasuke mind joining us for a council meeting tomorrow night to hear the findings?"

"Not at all, it would be an honor, Kazekage-sama."

"Sakura. Gaara is fine," he said with a slight tilt to one corner of his mouth. "I'll leave you to it, then. Mizuna will be around in an hour to take you to your room."

"Thank you so much… Gaara," she smiled tiredly, then turned back to Sasuke as the Kazekage left the ward.

Almost an hour later, she sighed, finally done, and looked at Sasuke's face. He looked so peaceful, like he did all those times he slept beside her. Alone together like this it was easy to pretend they were still…

Sakura shook her head, mentally scolding herself.

"Bad, bad Sakura."

She should leave him alone now, he was perfectly stable. It was only a matter of time before the person who would lead her to her room would come.

Just this once.

She brushed Sasuke's hair off his forehead soothingly, and bent down and kissed it, smiling.

"I'm glad you're safe."

"Sak..rrah..."

Sakura's froze, thinking he was awake, then realized he was just sleep talking. Cute. He never did that before. Or maybe she just wasn't awake to hear it. Maybe—

"Haruno-sensei, I'm here to show you your room?"

Sakura jumped, then got a hold of herself.

"Oh that's right, Mizuna right? Come on," she stole one final glance at Sasuke's sleeping figure. "I'm exhausted."

* * *

"This one is from Konoha, Kazekage-sama."

Sakura who had been absently fiddling with the hem of her dress to try to ignore Sasuke's heavy presence beside her, glanced up curiously. Had Kakashi-sensei heard of their early arrival to Suna?

"Konoha?" Gaara asked, glancing at Sakura and Sasuke. "Is it a document announcing our guests' arrival?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama. The document is from the Konoha Council, sending greetings of peace, and extending their hand in partnership through the furtherance of the Children's Mental Health Clinic we built with them a year ago, to be negotiated by Haruno Sakura escorted by Uchiha Sasuke. And—"

The man balked, glanced wide eyed at Sakura for some reason, and passed the piece of paper to Gaara, who in turn looked up in mild surprise. Obviously this didn't happen often.

The Kazekage slid the paper towards him and silently skimmed the contents, and looked up at Sakura too, though with a much more unreadable look on his face.

Either way, she was annoyed.

"What is it?" she asked as patiently as she could.

Gaara was silent at first, but reluctantly decided to divulge the contents. This was after all a council meeting.

"It says further that—" he shifts the document "—the Konoha Council would like to offer the hand of Haruno Sakura, the most elite kunoichi of her generation, as a symbol of strength and partnership that would last through generations."

Everyone fell silent. Sakura saw red. Everyone in the room knew neither she nor Sasuke knew this letter would come. All Sakura could do to save face was to not say anything, and not do anything, lest she break the stone table they were gathered around in. And she couldn't, wouldn't, look at Sasuke who was sitting beside her.

Finally, Gaara broke the awkward silence.

"Would you all leave me and Sakura alone for a while? I'm sure she would like to discuss this matter with me alone."

Everyone immediately complied, even Sasuke, who silently stood and went out the office without a word.

Sakura was still fuming at the message from the Elders. They didn't have to do that, and announcing it as urgent, to be discussed in a meeting?!

It took her a few moments to finally relax and sheepishly look at Gaara whom she had momentarily forgotten about.

The boy in turn was watching her with his head resting on his crossed hands, a position much reminiscent of Sasuke during their genin days. It made her smile.

Seeing she had finally come out of her reverie, Gaara stood up and went to the veranda. She followed and watched as the Kazekage created one of his sand... clouds? Which slowly lifted him off of the veranda and into the air.

"Come. I have a feeling you don't want to be here."

Sakura wordlessly took his hand and climbed on top of the sand cloud, sitting beside Gaara with her legs tucked under her. The sand was grainy but Gaara had made it so it's soft, and she felt like she was sitting on a beach. She felt slightly comforted by this at least. She loved the beach.

"The last time you were on one of my creations, you were reviving Naruto," he said, smiling softly

Sakura smiled back, remembering.

"We were quite a team"

Gaara shook his head.

"It was all you. I just carried you from point a to b."

Sakura didn't know what to say to that.

"And now you're here as my potential fiancee."

"Potential?"

So he hasn't decided.

"I have to make sure of something first," he said mysteriously, so Sakura had to ask.

"What's that?"

Gaara ignored her question, and proceeded instead to steer the cloud away from the Kazekage tower and out towards the village, presenting them both with a magnificent view.

A few minutes passed with nothing but companionable silence, but Sakura was impatient as to what Gaara was talking about, so she was all ears when he finally started talking.

"It would be fitting, marrying you. As it was you who made me remember what love was after all."

It wasn't what Sakura was expecting him to say. Moreover, she didn't understand.

"What are you talking about..." she said more than asked, shaking her head.

"When you jumped in front of me to protect Sasuke, remember?"

"Oh. That was... such a long time ago, Gaara," she said, barely remembering it herself. Gaara was such a different person back then. She was, too.

"It was," he replied, as if reading her mind. "Yet I remember it clear as day. Your face was so determined. You knew you were going to lose, you had to have known. And yet you did it anyway. You faced a monster. Because you loved him."

…

"Y-you're not a monster, Gaara. You never were," was all she could manage.

"Hm," Gaara said still smiling. "I see."

Sakura was still confused. What was he—

"You still love Sasuke?"

"I—" was all she could manage.

Gaara smiled sympathetically.

"My big sister was like you. She used to think she could do everything alone. She was right, of course."

Sakura looked at Gaara, agreeing, but puzzled as to why he was talking about Temari suddenly.

"Then she started dating Nara. It was horrible at first, they kept butting heads because they were so much alike. It was slow… but it happened eventually. I think they both learned that they could do everything themselves, but... they didn't have to since they had each other."

"Gaara I…"

"Sakura. I want you to know that I'm thankful for what you've done for me all those years ago. And that I would like to help you too. If I can help you, tell me what I can do."

Unwillingly, tears started falling freely from her eyes.

Gaara reached out to wipe them.

"Ah. I've made you sad. That was not my intention."

"No no it's not—" she laughs almost hysterically. "Thank you, I... I don't know what to do right now either."

"Maybe start by telling me what happened."

And she did.

Gaara had a grim expression on his face by the end. Finally—

"Shouldn't you tell Na—"

"No, not Naruto! I don't want to ruin his relationship with the village. He wants to be Hokage and it would be… well, I don't want him to choose between his dream and his friends, you know. Not again."

Gaara looked grim still but nodded.

"And Sasuke?"

"I'm... scared of what he might do if he found out," she said, embarrassed.

Gaara nodded again, but Sakura saw the hesitation in his eyes.

"Yes?"

"I've seen his eyes from… before. You have too, right?"

Sakura nodded, knowing Gaara was talking about the time Sasuke had wanted to kill the 5 Kage, which included him. She had seen Sasuke's eyes then, cold and unfeeling, and frighteningly goal-oriented.

"Right now I've seen they're different. I think he's changed... quite a lot. I don't think he would... regress."

"No I know I see that he's changed! I just can't be absolutely sure as to what would happen and I... I haven't really gotten to know him since he came back."

"Hmm. I understand. But Sakura, give him the benefit of the doubt, would you?

"Of course," she said, more than a little ashamed of what she felt.

"Anyway what matters is, you still love him. So no need to worry. Love always wins."

Sakura blushed.

"Stop talking that way, Gaara, it's so uncharacteristic!" she laughed.

She used to say that all the time as a child. Or was it her Inner Self that used to do that? She wasn't sure.

"Is it? I do have that word tattooed on my forehead," he joked.

They both laughed, and for a moment Sakura forgot all her worries.

"You talk like you're in love, yourself," she commented, wiggling her eyebrows.

Gaara paused, then looked at her square in the face.

"And if I am?"

"Ehh? Will you ever introduce her to me?"

The boy's smile turned even softer.

"You already know him."

 _Beat._

"I…"

Then she smiled.

"Naruto?"

Gaara nodded.

Sakura hugged him. It was the only thing she could think of doing at such a time. He puts his hand on her arm in return.

"Does he know?"

"Of course not."

"Does anyone else?"

"I've told only you. Though I think my siblings…"

"Ah," she said again. "Can we stay like this for a little while longer?"

"Of course."

* * *

AAAAHHHHH so okay I admit I really do ship GaaNaru and omg I am so sorry it took so long for me to update… Thank u so much if you've read this far…. eHEH


End file.
